India win first two games at South Asian U16 Basketball Championships

Indian Basketball seems to be going through an upward spiral currently with positive news coming in from almost directions. Perhaps the only loss that the game has seen in the past few months has been the senior men’s team’s disastrous performance at the FIBA Asia Cup held in Lebanon earlier last month.

But compare that to the women’s team’s amazing performance which led them to ultimately win the second division of the Asia Cup held in Bengaluru and one might not be too far removed in saying that the culture of basketball in India is here to stay. And with players of the sport getting noticed for the Arjuna Award too, one might be hopeful of the game finally getting the recognition it deserves. If that isn’t enough, the team of youngsters from India have been making a mark at the South Asia Basketball Association U16 Championships currently ongoing in Kathmandu.

For their first game, the Colts certainly epitomised the very term “dominant” as they defeated Maldives by an astounding margin of 152-17. A scoreline such as this speaks volumes about the kind of upcoming talent and skill that is present in abundance at the junior levels of the sport. India’s game was led by Prince Pal Singh who scored 31 points. Harshwardhan Tomar came in a close second on the score list with 24 points while Binod Rajak ended up contributing 20 points to the scoreline. In this game, 6 of India’s players registered double digit points.

The future os Indian basketball certainly seems to be in safe hands.Hoopistani

And if that was not enough cause for celebration, India carried on the momentum from the first game to make it 2 wins out of 2 in their second match against Bangladesh. This game was not as one sided as the previous one with the final scoreline reading 83-64. This time, it was Priyanshu’s 32 point extravaganza which led to India’s victory. A look at the scorelines in all four quarters would reveal that the team from Bangladesh never really put up a fight in any of them except the second and the final one. The scores from each quarter read 26-13, 16-18, 16-9, 25-24.

It is always a positive development when junior teams perform well in international competitions. It implies that the future of the game is in good hands. India’s next game is against the hosts Nepal at 1.15 pm on Friday.

When 12 girls made India sit up and take notice

Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together for the team from India

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Know Why This Small Town In Tamil Nadu Is In The Guinness Book Of World Records

Did you know there is a town at the southern tip of India that can be called ‘Heaven on Earth’. Its people realise the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Madukkarai Panchayat in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, is the cleanest place in India, owing to around 50 women who wake up every day to collect waste from each and every household in the town. At 6 AM, the women set out to work with their green jackets on, hands covered in gloves and caps adjusted perfectly on their heads. Every morning they line up for the roll call. These ‘Green Friends’ are part of the solid waste management program supported by ACC Cement – Madukkarai.

Madukkarai, a small town at the tip of the country, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world. With the help of around 50 women, who are now called ‘Green Friends’, and a simple, scalable model, this town is leading the way for efficient waste management. #SwachhBharat

While most of us find someone to put the blame on, Madukkarai decided to take control in their own hands. The town has 8,000 households and a population of 42,000. 82% of the homes hand over garbage to ‘Green Friends’ every day. 1,440 tonnes of garbage is collected annually from the town of 18 wards and 107 streets.

There is a lot that we can learn from Madukkarai. One of the most disturbing realities that we face, despite which part of the country we reside in, is the similar dirt everywhere – garbage piled up on roadside, drains clogged with plastic bags and dogs chewing on the leftover food we have callously thrown on the streets.

We keep our homes clean; make sure that the floors are mopped every day. But why do we not share the same sentiment for our surroundings? We hardly realize that the street outside our home is as much ours as is anybody else’s. We are the ones who use these roads every day to commute. Madukkarai realized this and the importance of a clean environment for our health and well-being.

Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world

‘Green Friends’ collect household wastes in eight different bins for wet waste, kitchen waste, plastic waste, etc. This is then disposed in large bins kept in several parts of the town. Trucks pick up this waste daily and take it to the resource recovery park where the garbage is recycled.

The treatment center segregates the different types of wastes. The kitchen waste is converted into fertilizers and given to farmers at extremely low prices to use in cultivation of their crops. The plastic waste is processed to be used in the construction of roads, and also at the large ACC factory where it is used as fuel at high temperatures which does not even cause pollution.

Due to the efforts of ‘Green Friends’, the citizens of Madukkarai, and the municipality, there has been a 60% reduction in landfill waste over the span of three years. There has also been a 50% reduction in the vehicle movement to the landfill sites, 85% of organic waste is converted successfully into vermin compost, ample reduction in the use of fossil fuels, reduction in greenhouse gas emission to 60%, and substantial decrease in the spread of malaria and dengue among the people. Furthermore, barren lands provided for compost yard have been successfully converted into fully functional organic compost yard and non-recyclable waste is used as an alternative energy source for the cement industry.

Madukkarai’s citizens have also become more environment-friendly, with 30% of the households segregating the organic-recyclable waste at home.

What we can learn

Madukkarai has paved the way to the sustainable development of our world. They have shown us that is not impossible to keep our environment clean. All we need is to inculcate in us a concern for mother Earth. It is commendable that ACC is supporting Madukkarai in its venture and helping it stay clean.

We, as citizens of other towns, cities, villages and states in India, have a lot to learn from Madukkarai. We too can have a healthier life if only we care enough and practice our civil duties proudly.